


That's a Little Bit More than a Best Friend

by consoledacup



Series: Glimpses [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 13:17:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7223809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/consoledacup/pseuds/consoledacup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was written in response to Team Engineering's beautiful "What Leopold Fitz, Engineer Extraordinaire, Means to Me" challenge to Team Biochem. I didn't expect it to be actual ficlet, but it is, so there ya go! </p><p>This also fits in with Glimpses-verse, but it's not a part of the 66 chapters. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's a Little Bit More than a Best Friend

_His name is like your favorite word._

Will’s words haunted Jemm- _no, not haunted_ \- there was nothing _negative_ about that simple statement. Haunted was a poor word choice. Will’s words _echoed_ through Jemma on a continuous loop. 

_His name is like your favorite word._

She played off the statement, changing the subject a bit, ignoring the intimate undertones of Will’s words, but as she retreated to her little makeshift bunk away from him, she thought about the implications of his statement.

_His name is like your favorite word._

_Leopold_ Fitz certainly _weren’t_ her favorite two words in the first few months at the Academy, much to her dismay. She knew she wanted to get to know him at first glance. There was something about him: his brain, his handsomeness, his unassuming, yet arrogant nature, his youth, his passion for science, all of it. And she was miffed when she thought all he wanted to do was compete. Thankfully, that ended promptly. And his name _became_ her favorite word at the Academy when they started becoming friends through late-night chats and study sessions and meals with far too much sodium for her taste and minor disagreements and much more laughter and everything else in between. She always wanted to be around him, and back then, she was convinced it was because they were the two youngest and worked so well together and he was so smart, but now? She was drawn to him even back then, and it astounded her.

_His name is like your favorite word._

Fitz remained her favorite word through Sci-Ops. He was the only one who was as poorly suited for field work as she was, and her prideful spirit thanked him for that. And even still, she was drawn to him and he was drawn to her, and neither of them knew what that meant, but they knew they didn’t want to be apart, even back then. He was her second pair of eyes, her stability in this wicked world of chaos, her _very best friend_ , and she propositioned continuing the partnership onto the Bus with very little thought. 

_His name is like your favorite word._

Fitz remained her favorite word when they embarked on their journey into mystery on Coulson’s plane. She watched him, and he watched her, and they watched each other transform from awkward, harmless scientists into highly-skilled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. It was on that plane where she first began to see how truly devoted he was to her. How he was willing to be in the same contaminated space with her,  jump out of a plane (”I’m telling you, Jemma. It was that _damn_ parachute!”) for her. And it wasn’t just his devotion. She wasn’t a _complete_ narcissist. It was his strength and his bravery and his true moral center, and- he was just about the best man on Earth. Or on the universe, as it were. 

_His name is like your favorite word._

Fitz remained her favorite word even after the confusion and hurt and brushes with death and separation. When he told her how he felt, it took her a bit to realize she felt the same. But what was instantaneous was the the only word she could focus on in that moment after their rescue. _Fitz. Fitz. **Fitz.** _ His name became her heartbeat, and as long as Fitz survived being without oxygen that long, her heartbeat continued steadily. At the bottom of the ocean, she saw his sacrificial love for her. And it changed her, and it hardened her and uplifted her and scared her, and it was that love that kept her going while undercover. It was that love that kept her going even when she felt some of the team was against her (including him). It was that love that kept her going for a month by herself on a foreign planet.

_His name is like your favorite word._

Of _course_ Fitz was her favorite word. They’ve been inseparable, and they’ve been apart, and they’ve been estranged, and they’ve been friendly, and they’ve been on the brink of _something more_ , and through it all, his name has remained her favorite word. Because his name reminded her of a strong, handsome, generous, courageous, pure, intelligent, inventive, extraordinary man whom she loves very much. 

_His name is like your favorite word._

His name was, is, and always will be her favorite word. And she _would_ find a way to return home to tell him, to show him, to _love_ him. Because Leopold Fitz was her soulmate. And _favorite word_ didn’t even _begin_ to cover it. 

 


End file.
